• Jason Bateman is in talks to star in and make his feature directing debut with the indie comedy Bad Words, about an unhappy adult who games the system to enter a national children’s spelling bee. First-time screenwriter Andrew Dodge penned the script, which was on the 2011 Black List. [Variety]

• Channing Tatum is in talks to produce and star in an untitled biopic about famed daredevil Evel Knievel. Tatum’s producing partner Reid Carolin (Magic Mike) penned the script, based on the Stuart Barker book Life of Evel. No director is attached. [THR]

• Melissa Leo and Rick Yune (Die Another Day) have signed onto the White House thriller Olympus Has Fallen (this is the one starring Gerard Butler as a Secret Service agent, and Aaron Eckhart as the president, with Antoine Fuqua directing). Leo will play the Secretary of Defense, and Yune will play the mastermind behind the North Korean takeover of the White House. [THR]